When we talk about “great power competition” with Russia and China, folks seem to think of things like stealth bombers, hardened tanks and hypersonic cruise missiles. But the U.S. Army is pinning a good chunk of its hopes for a battlefield edge on an app for laptop computers.

It’s not just an app, of course; it’s the immensely complicated and interconnected systems that will keep it linked to a sophisticated information system called the Army’s Distributed Common Ground System, called DCGS-A. Raytheon and Palantir are battling each other to run the DCGS-A program, which has seen its share of controversy, protests, and lawsuits. But the technology — sort of Google Maps on steroids — should give American soldiers a huge leg up.

“It is a game-changer,” said Todd Probert, vice president of Mission Support and Modernization for Raytheon Company’s Intelligence, Information and Services business, after a recent demonstration of FoXTEN, his company’s entrant in the DCGS competition.

Soldiers will be able to gets lots of info about their surrounding from a laptop as they move across the battlefield. Unlike many of the military computer systems I’ve seen over the years, this resembled what you’d see on a mobile phone or tablet.

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“We’ve been maturing the look and feel, the user interface, thinking though how to make training more intuitive,” Probert said.

Its developers say it’s also smaller and lighter than the existing laptops and servers soldiers must carry. And it goes beyond Google Maps or Waze. For one, my mobile phone navigation apps like my car to travel on a road. For soldiers, that’s not always an option.

(Quick aside: this reminds me of watching soldiers move in on a mock-up town on a military bombing range in Central Florida a decade ago. The instructor said you never take the road because there are always buried IEDs.)

But how do you know what that terrain is like? Is there a dense forest? Rocks? A ridge? How high is it? The software in FoXTEN lets soldiers know if their vehicle could make it through.

The systems pulls in data as troops input it all over the battlefield, like dropping a pin on a Google Map. Satellite images, drone feeds, human intelligence, signals intelligence and the location of enemy weapons — it’s all there. Based on that data, the system can tell soldiers how to sneak safely around, say an enemy machine gun.

“That’s something that the analysts on the ground haven’t been able to do,” said Greg Hansel, Raytheon’s Army business development manager for mission support and modernization. “They have to look at the map and say: ‘Eh, I think he can probably see me.’”

The system is always getting updated as new data is pumped in, so it’s basically a live view of the battlefield.

“It gives the commanders a site picture that they’ve never had before,” Probert said. “That fog of war, it’s still there, but it’s getting a little bit more clear.”

Welcome

You’ve reached the Defense One Global Business Brief by Marcus Weisgerber. Fall is FINALLY in the air (in Washington, at least). It’s also that remarkable time when all four of our major sports here in the U.S. overlap. Oh, and the Pentagon’s entering crunch time as it builds its fiscal 2020 budget. Send your thoughts, tips and feedback to: mweisgerber@defenseone.com or @MarcusReports. Check out the Global Business Brief archivehere, and tell your friends tosubscribe!

A satellite on the far side of the moon might not be quite what the Chinese say, Air Force official warns.

Q&A: L3 & Harris CEOs

On Sunday, just after L3 Technologies and Harris Corp. announced their planned merger next year, I chatted with CEOs Chris Kubasik and Bill Brown about their plans to form L3 Harris Technologies, which would be the world’s sixth-largest defense firm. Here are some excerpts.

New French Anti-tank Missile Cleared for Desert Ops

France’s military has cleared a new MMP 5th-generation land combat missile for use in desert climes, according to a French Defense Ministry statement. In recent tests in Djibouti, nine of the anti-tank missiles reached land and sea targets, the statement said. “The results confirm the reliability of the weapon system in hot environment as well as its performance in operational firing scenarios.” Missile maker MBDA is marketing it to Middle Eastern nations.

Navy Approves 3D-Printed Metal Part for Ship

The U.S. Navy has give thumbs-up to Huntington Ingalls’ Newport News Shipbuilding’s plan to build a 3D-printed piping assembly for the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier, according to the company. The part will be tested on the ship for one year. The company called it a “significant technological development” and a “watershed moment.” An HII statement said: “The adoption of 3D printing of metal parts is the culmination of years of work with Navy and industry partners that involved the rigorous printing of test parts and materials, extensive development of an engineered test program and publishing of the results, and could lead to cost savings and reduced production schedules for naval ships.”

Air Force Launches 4th AEHF Comsat

The Air Force early Wednesday launched the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite. The satellite now enters testing before its builder Lockheed Martin turns it over to the Air Force. “With four satellites in orbit, the AEHF constellation completes a geostationary ring and will be able to deliver global coverage,” the company said.

Making Moves

Garry Schwartz has been named president of the Mission Driven Innovative Solutions group, part of Huntington Ingalls Industries Technical Solutions division. He was most recently vice president and general manager of the training, cyber, and engineering business unit within the Mission Driven Innovative Solutions group.

Marcus Weisgerber is the global business editor for Defense One, where he writes about the intersection of business and national security. He has been covering defense and national security issues for more than a decade, previously as Pentagon correspondent for Defense News and chief editor of ...
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